Guitars of Character

Hell’s Half Acre

“One of my biggest beefs with “work culture” is its tendency to discount the creative process. It’s impossible to say why or when inspiration will strike—and it can’t be switched on like a spreadsheet on a computer. I try to be open to the things around me, but I rarely can predict when I’ll be inspired to act.”

The bullets that pierced this ace of diamonds were inlaid into the ebony fingerboard

About The Hell’s Half Acre Build

An idea for a guitar came to me while reading books about the great cattle drives and the cowboys of the frontier. I’d heard the term “Hell’s Half Acre” since I was a kid—there’s even a Robbie Robertson song by that name. Instinctively I knew it referred to a patch of town where society’s rules did not apply for those who chose to live life on their own terms. I envisioned a guitar that evoked the spirit of the era when cowboys were just working men, and the pistol was law. This video shows some of my process.